BEING A MOTHER.........Suggested Reading

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Today, as my Loving and Caring Children, Daughters-in-love and GrandCharmers

visited me on my birthday....I found the beautiful thoughts I've enclosed

below.....immediately, I knew I needed to Share them with my Other Family.....

Always

All Ways

Jo

>

>BEING A MOTHER

> 

>After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to

>dinner and a movie. She said, 'I love you, but I know this other woman loves

>you and would Love to spend some time with you.'

>The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my Mother, who has been

>a widow for 19 year; but the demands of my work and my three children had

>made it possible to visit her only occasionally.

>That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. 'What's

>wrong, are you well,' she asked? (My mother is the type of woman who suspects

>that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news.)

>'I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you,' I

>responded 'just the two of us.' She thought about it for a moment, and then

>said, 'I would like that very much.'

>That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous.

>When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous

>about our date. She waited at the door with her coat on. She had curled her

>hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last

>wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an

>angel's. 'I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they

>were impressed,' she said, as she got into the car. 'They can't wait to hear

>about our meeting.'

>We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy.

>My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady.

>After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large

>print. Half-way through the entrees, I lifted my eyes and saw Mother sitting

>there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips.

>'It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,' she said.

> 

>'Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor,' I responded.

>During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation..... nothing extraordinary

>but catching up on recent events of each other's life. We talked so much

>that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, 'I'll

>go out with you again; but only if you let me invite you.' I agreed.

> 

>'How was your dinner date?' asked my wife when I got home. 'Very nice, much

>more so than I could have imagined,' I answered.

>A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so

>suddenly that I didn't have a chance to do anything with her. Sometime later,

>I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same

>place Mother and I had dined. An attached note said: 'I paid this bill in

>advance. I wasn't sure that I could be there; but, nevertheless, I paid for

>two plates - one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know

>what that night meant for me.

>'I love you, son'.

> 

>At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: 'I love YOU'

>and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. NOTHING in life is

>MORE IMPORTANT than your family! Give them the time they deserve, because

>these things cannot be put off till some 'other' time.

>'Somebody' said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you've

>had a baby....'Somebody' doesn't know that once you're a mother, 'normal' is

>history.

>'Somebody' said you can't love the second child as much as you love the

>first... 'Somebody' doesn't have two or more children.

>'Somebody' said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and

>delivery....'Somebody' never watched her 'baby' get on the bus for the first

>day of kindergarten... or on a plane headed for military 'boot camp.'

>'Somebody' said a Mother can stop worrying after her child gets married...

>'Somebody' doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a

>mother's heartstrings.

>'Somebody' said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home...

>'Somebody' never had grandchildren.

>'Somebody' said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell

>her... " Somebody' isn't a mother.

>Pass this along to all the GREAT 'mothers' in your life and to everyone who

>ever had a mother.

>This isn't just about being a mother; it's about Appreciating the People In

>Your Lives WHILE You Have Them... no matter who that person is!

>Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become

>actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they

>become character. Watch your character, for it becomes...your destiny.

>'Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of

>battle'.

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> " Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of

>trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and

>success achieved. " Helen Keller

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

 Jo